{"id":47968,"date":"2021-06-17T14:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T14:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev6.blazedream.in\/ICSF\/samudra\/together-against-pirates"},"modified":"2021-08-22T02:29:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T02:29:45","slug":"together-against-pirates","status":"publish","type":"samudra","link":"https:\/\/www.icsf.net\/samudra\/together-against-pirates\/","title":{"rendered":"Together against Pirates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigeria : Piracy<\/span><\/p>\n

Together against Pirates<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sea piracy and armed sea robbery are major constraints to capture fisheries in the waters of Nigeria<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This article is by B B Solarin<\/strong> (bolusolarin@yahoo.com<\/a>) and O A Ayinla<\/strong> of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR), Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Nigeria lies between latitudes 4o<\/sup>16’\u009613o<\/sup>52′ N and longitudes 2o<\/sup> 96’\u009614o<\/sup> 37′ E. It is bordered by the Republic of Benin to the west, Niger to the north, Cameroon to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It has a coastline of 853 km. In 1978, Nigeria declared its 200-nautical-miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which covers an area of 210,900 sq km <\/sup>over which it has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploiting, conserving and managing its fisheries resources. Nigeria is also endowed with a large number of brackishwater bodies, including estuaries, creeks and lagoons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fishing has been a major source of very rich animal protein\/nutrients, direct and indirect employment and wealth creation as well as immense economic benefits to Nigeria. Fish forms a key ingredient in global menus, and Nigeria, with a population currently estimated at 140 mn, is the largest consumer of fish and fishery products in Africa. Shrimps have now become an important and valuable export commodity in Nigeria, where oil and gas, with the current daily production of 2.4 mn barrels, contribute about 90 per cent of the foreign-currency earnings of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, it is very important to ensure the sustainable contribution of fisheries to the nutritional, economic and social well-being of the nation as well as to the maintenance of the livelihoods of fishermen and future generations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fisheries within the Nigerian territorial waters and its EEZ can be broadly classified as follows :<\/span><\/p>\n

(a) brackishwater or estuarine small-scale artisanal canoe fishery in lagoons, creeks and estuaries;<\/span><\/p>\n

(b) coastal artisanal canoe fishery within the five-nautical-mile non-trawling zone, mainly with gillnets, which targets pelagic species as well as sharks and sail fishes in deeper waters; and<\/span><\/p>\n

(c) industrial coastal inshore fishery, made up mainly of trawlers targeting demersal fish and shrimps usually up to 50 m depth. Deep-water fisheries resources with high economic potential, including tuna and driftfish (Arioma) <\/i>species, have remained largely unexploited by the local fleet.<\/span><\/p>\n

The population of fishermen in Nigeria has been estimated at about 1.2 mn; there are about 6 mn employed in the sector, including processors, marketers and other ancillary workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Landing sites<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many coastal towns, villages, communities or settlements adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean provide natural landing beaches\/sites (on the waterfronts), scattered along the entire coastline, which are used by small-scale artisanal fishermen, who have consistently contributed between 81.4 and 89.6 per cent of the 0.6 mn tonnes of annual fish production.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA), an umbrella organization of all the fishing companies, operated 153 Nigerian-flagged registered vessels in 2011 (down from 221 vessels in 2001), and contributed between 4.3 and nine per cent of the local fish production.<\/span><\/p>\n

Table 1: Pirate attacks on trawlers in Nigerian coastal waters and their outcome<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Year<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2003<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2004<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2005<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2006<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2007<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2008<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2009<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2010<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

No. of vessels<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

10<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

11<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

38<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

91<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

107<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

95<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

105<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

115<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

No. of deaths recorded<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

6<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

9<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

13<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

15<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/span><\/i>Source<\/span><\/i><\/span>: FDF & NITOA (Pers. Comm.)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, fishing operations by small-scale artisanal and industrial fishermen, as well as research activities in the coastal waters, are being hampered by incessant armed robbery or pirate attacks in the coastal waters of Nigeria, leading to the maiming of captains, fishermen and crew as well as loss of lives and equipment. Pirates have forcefully deprived small-scale artisanal fishermen of their outboard engines, often inflicting bodily harm.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, piracy has been a major threat to fishing trawlers. However, of late, the ferocity and frequency of pirate attacks have grown out of proportion and beyond the realms of reason. Fishing grounds from Calabar to Lekki are no longer safe or accessible to fishing vessels, both during the day and at night. The NITOA president once asked in desperation: \u0093How productive can you be if you always have to look over your shoulder?<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Sunday Punch <\/i>of 27 <\/sup>February 2011, a Maritime Watchdog Group confirmed the 853 km coastline of Nigeria as the most dangerous in the world because of the sporadic increase in the number of pirate attacks. Reports obtained from Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF) and NITOA indicate that pirate attacks on fishing vessels increased from 10 in 2003 to 115 in 2010 (see Table 1). The frequency of deaths from the attacks increased tremendously from two in 2006 to 15 in 2009. There were about 50 pirate attacks on fishing vessels in January 2011. Of those, 20 occurred in one week during which 10 crew members were killed. This trend has continued unabated to date.<\/span><\/p>\n

The adverse effects of pirate attacks on the fishing operators include the following:<\/span><\/p>\n